Filament-mounting machine



J 17, 1 J. REGENSTREIF I FILAHENT MOUNTING MACHINE Filed May 3, i928 2Sheets-Sheet 1- Inventor: Jakob Regens-tre June 17, 1930. I J. REGENS'fREIF- 1,765,357

FILAHENT MOUNTING. MACHINE Filed May 3-, 1928 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Inventor:I Jakob Regenstrerf,

b5 His A'b-torneg Patented June 17, 1930 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICEJAIOIB REGENSTREIF, OF BERLIN, GERMEANY, ASSIGNOR TO GENERAL ELECTRICCOM- PANY, A CORPORATION OF ITEW YORK FILAMEN T-MOUNTING MACHINEApplication meUta e, 1928, Serial No.

The mounting of coiled filaments of electric incandescent lamps onanchors extending radially from the stem and having loops or eyes on theends has sometimes been done by auxiliary devices operated automaticallywith'the object of saving labor. The prin cipal" object of thisinvention is to provide means for automatically mounting the coiledfilaments bysimple mechanism and in a very reliable manner. To this endthe filament is threaded thru the anchor loops by a threading devicecomprising a filament former or shaper which comprises a filament feederwith a feed conduit or groove preferablystraight and of a cross sectionor bore corresponding to the cross section of the filament, and servingboth for feeding and straightening the filament, and also a filamentguide. with a curved guide conduit of the same bore which adjoins theoutlet of the feed conduit and acts as a bridge between the loops orhooks of the anchors on the stem lowered into the filament shaper. Bythis novel arrangementa filament placed in the feed conduit may be slidendwise by a pusher .or by air under pressure, or by suction, into thecurved guide conduit along which it is pushed or pulled so that itslides along the conduit endwise and is threaded thru the loops of theanchors on the stem. To facilij tate the threading of the filament thruthe loops of the anchors that part of the filament former having thefeed conduit, as well as that part having the curved guide conduit, areboth preferably made in two separable parts to facilitate introducingthe filament and confining it closely in the conduits. I

The invention may advantageously be embodied in the usual hook insertingmachine of the kind which in several successive working posit-ionsinserts the loops or anchors radially into a glass bead on the stem rodor arbor, and furthermore produces loops or eyes on the free ends of theanchors for holding the filament. In such a machine there may beprovided at a working position of the hook inserting machine followingthat one where the coiled filament is mounted on the stem by beingthreaded thru the anchor loops, a loop closing device comprising avertically 274,877, and. in Germany May 17, 1927.

anvil to narrow down and more completely close the loops around thecoiled filament and thus hold the filament. I

One form of-embodiment of the invention is shown in the accompanyingdrawing in which Fig. 1 is a top view of the filament, former with acover for the filament guide I swung' back out of the way; Fig. 2 is across section of the filament feed portion along the line II-II ofFig.1; F i 3 is a section partly along the line III-I I of Fi 1; Fig. 4 is asection along the line IVI of Fig. 1; Fig. 5 is a section along the lineV-V of Fig. 1; Fig. 6 is a top view, like Fig. 1, of a modificationusing air pressure to move the filament endwise; Fig. 7 is a. crosssection along the line VIIVII of Fig. 6; Fig. 8"' is a section along theline VIII-VIII of, Fig. 6 with the cover 14 in place on the block 3 Fig.9 is a top view of the device of Fig. 6, modified to use suction insteadof compressed air; Fig. 10 is a diagrammatic top view'ofa holderinserting machine provided with the filament mounting device constructedaccording to this invention; and Figs. 11 to 14 show diagrammaticallycertain details of the holder inserting machine and of the "stemproduced on it.

In the particular embodiment of the invention shown in Figs. 1 to 5 thefilament former which serves to receive the coiled filament 1 comprisesa straight filament feeder with a long straight base block 2 associatedwith a curved filament guide comprising a curved or approximatelysemi-circular base block 3 associated with the feeder base block 2 orformed in one piece with it and having in its fiat upper surface acurved guide roove or conduit to guide the filament into t e anchorloops. The base block 2 has a wide straight channel with an inclinedbottom 4 extending its entire length and a straight feed groove orconduit 5 along the lower edge of the sloping bottom 4 and formln a'continuation thereofithe cross section of t s conduit correspondingvtobut being slightly greater than the cross section of the filament.

Each filament isplaced 'inthe feed condult 5 by being passed sidewiseand down along the sloping bottom 4 from a supply of loose filaments,either by hand or mechanically. The straight feed groove or conduit 5not only receives the filament 1, but also straightens 5 it out into astraight line. A vertically movable cover 6 having an inclined bottomcorresponding to the inclined bottom 4 of the channel in the block 2 asshown in Fig. 2 descends into the channel in the block 2 after theinsertion of the filament thereby closing the straight part of thefilament feeder and converting the groove 5 into a duct which enclosesthe filament with slight clearance. v

The curved base block 3 has in its upper surface a curved guide grooveor conduit 7 of a length corresponding to the length of the filament tobe used. This groove 7 is crossed by transverse anchor slots or radialcuts 8, spaced from one another to correspond to the spacing of theloops 11 of the radial anchors 9 of the arbor 10 of the stem. To oneside of the. guide block 3 on a vertical shaft 12 is an arm 13, mountedto oscillate and also to move along the axis of the curved arm 13 has onits free end a curved cover or cap 14 for the curved guide block 3 andwhich,

when the arm 13 is swung over the block 3 and lowered, rests on theguide block 3 as shown in Fig. 3 and covers or closes the guide groove 7in the block and thus converts it into a closed and curved guide duct.The cap 14 also has radial slots 15 which register with the anchor slots8 when the cap is in place,

so that, as the stem is lowered along the axis of the curved block 3 andthe'cover 14, the loops 11 of the anchors 9 can pass through the slotsin the cap 14 into the anchor slots 8 of the guide block 3. The depth ofeach anchor slot 8 is such that its bottom is slightly below the bottomof the groove 7, and therefore the anchor loop 11 resting on the bottom16 of an anchor slot 8, as shown in Fig. 4, is concentric with and inregistry with the groove or conduit 7 in the curved block 3 of thefilament guide.

I Two radial lead slots 17, one at the junction between the straightfilament feed conduit 5 and one endof the curved guide conduit 7 and theother at the other or freeend of the guide conduit are provided in thecurved block 3 to receive the hooks 18 on'the ends of the two leads 19of the stem. Two radially movable clamping jaws 20 enter the lead slots17 transversely of the leads and clamp the hooks 18 down on the ends ofthe filament 1. Each section of the curved guide conduit 7 for thefilament has .afunnel-shaped entrance 21formed in the walls of theradial anchor slots 8 and facing the advancing end of a filament slidingalong the guide conduit 7 in order to facilitate the pushing of thefilament endwise thru all the sections of the 66 guide conduit 7.

block 3 so as to be raised'and lowered. This- The operation of thedevice shown in Figs.

' 1 to 5 is as follows:

First the arm 13 is swung into placeover the guide block 3 and thenlowered until the 1 cap 14 sets snugly on the upper fiat surface of thecurved block 3. Then the lamp stem, with its arbor 10 and radial anchors9 provided-with complete loops 11 is lowered until the hooks 18 on theleadsare in the lead slots 17 and the anchor loops 11 are in theintermediate radial anchor slots 8 and resting on the bottom 16 of theradial anchor slots, which serve as stops for the loops 11 and preventexcessive lowering of the stem. At the same time with, or shortly afterthis downward movement of the stem, and while the cover strip 6 of thefilament feeder is raised, a filament 1 is passed down the slopingbottom 4 of the channel in the feed block 2 into the feed conduit 5 andthereby straightened. 5 Then the cover strip 6 is lowered into thechannel in the block 2 until its inclined bottom rests on the slopingbottom 4 of the channel in the block 2 and then the filament 1 is slidendwise along the feed conduit 5 in the direction of the arrow in Fig.1.by pressure exerted by the cylindrical push rod 22 fitting accuratelyinto the conduit 5. The push rod 22 is of such a length that by itsforward stroke the filament is pushed entirely out of the feed conduit 5into the guide conduit 7 and slides endwise along saidcurved guideconduit 7 and thru the loops 11 resting in the anchor slots across theconduit until the forward oradvancing end of the filament 1 is stoppedby striking against the stop 23 extending across theguide conduit 7 atthe end of the curved guide block 3. Both ends of the filament 1 are nowin place in the lead slots 17 and in the hooks 18 of the leads 19.Immediately after the push rod 22 has pushed the filament 1 endwise intothe curved filament guide and thus through the anchor loops 11 in theguide, the clamping jaws 20' move outwards and radiallv of the curvedguide conduit 7 and close the hooks 18, thus clamping the leads to theends of the filament. The arm 13, with the cover 14 attached thereto, isnow lifted slightly and then swung to one side whereupon the finishedmount may be lifted out of the curved filament guide block 3.,

The modification shown in Figs. 6 to 8 is of much the same constructionas that in Figs. 1 to 5, except that in this modification the filamentis threaded through the loops of the anchors not by a push rod, but byair pressure. To this end air channels 24 are provided in both thefilament feeder block 2 and the filament block 3 parallel to and at aslight distance from the straight feed conduit ,5 and the curved guideconduit 7, and are at will connected to and disconnected from a sourceof air under pressure. In the feed block 2 the air channel or groove 24is 130 which is wedge shaped to provide a slanting bottom for thefilament feed channel in the' block 2 and in the guideblock 3 it. iscovered by thecover 14 on the oscillating arm 13. The channel 24 in ,thefeed block is connected thru a nozzle-like port 26 with the inlet end ofthe feed conduit 5, which in this case does not extend entirely thru thefeed block 2,as it does where a push rod is used to push the filamentalong the feed conduit.

By this port 26 pressure is exerted by the air on the end of the coiledfilament. In addition air is delivered at other points to the feed-conduit 5 at intermediate points from the air channel 24 by four ports27 set to produce air jets which push the filment endwise along the feedconduit. The filament is also and is continually pushed along until ithas pushed endwise along the guide conduit 7 by air 'jets produced byports 28 leading from the parallel curved air channel 24 to the curvedguide conduit 7 and discharging into the filament receiving end of eachsection of the guide conduit. As soon as the air blast is sent in thedirection of the arrow thru the air channel 24 the filament 1 enclosedin the guide conduit 5 is caught at the rear end and also at severalintermediate points along its length by the air streaming from the ports26, 27, and is moved endwise along into the curved guide conduit 7,where it is likewise caught by the air issuing from the ports 28 movedentirely into the guide conduit 7 and thru the anchor loops 11 of thestem and its forward end is against the stop 23 on the guide block .3.The ends of the filament 1 'are now in position in the hooks 18 of theleads 19, and can be attached to the hooks by moving the clamping jaws20 into the lead slots. In order that the threading of the filament 1thru the loops 11 of the stem and the transfer of the filament fromonesection of the curved guide conduit 7 to the next may take placeeasily, the ports 28 are arranged to deliver directly across the radialanchor slots 8 and into the ope'n or receiving end of each duct section.The forward or leading end of the filament is thereby each time directlyput in an anchor loop of the stem by air under pressure and is bent overtoward the inner wall ofthe guide conduit so .as to come into the middleof the loop. 1

After the filament is blown into the guide block 2 a single puff of airsuflices to put it in its final position. In order, however, to increasethe certainty of the placing of the filament a number of rapidlyrepeated pufl's of air may be employed. These repeated pufis or blastsmay be obtained by alternately opening and closing. the pressure airduct 1n various ways. In the particular example shown, the repeated airpuflfs. or blasts are produced by a rotary valve 29 having near the rimof'a number of ports 30 and so mitted to and shut 013? from the duct 24.

In the particular construction shown in Fig. 9 the filament 1 enclosedin feed conduit 5 of the part 2 of the former is c onducted into thecurved guide conduit 7 and the loops 11 of the stem by suction. In thiscase a vacuum duet 24 traverses the two parts 2 and '3 of the formerparallel to and in communication with the feeding and guide ducts 5 and7.' The vacuum duct 24 is connected to a suction pipe by a connection 32on the semiannular part 3' of the former. The suction ports 27 and 28provided in the two parts of the former are set at an angle about 90different from the pressure ports, and are near- 1y. tangential to thecurved guide conduit 7, so as to be better adapted to cause the filamentto he slid along the conduits by the flow of air from the outsidethrough the ports rotary valve, like the valve 29, at short intervals toproduce pufls of air and thereby cause safer transmission of thefilament along the guide conduit.

The filament mounting mechanism above described and constructedaccording to the invention may be used independently of the usualintermittently rotated hook inserting machineof the kind in which loopsare produced in the free ends of the radial anchor wires and thuscomplementv such machines. It is, however, advantageous as showndiagrammatically in Fig. 10 to incorporate the described filamentmounting mechanism into such" an intermittently rotating hookinsertingmachine. 7 I

The hook inserting machine shown diagrammatically in Fig. 10 may beconstructed on the same general principle as that shown in theapplicaton for U. S. Patent, Serial No. 243,698, filed Dec. 30, 1927, byLedig and Loebe, and makes one complete revolution in twelve steps. Asshown inFig. 3 the table 41 of themachine has a pedestal 42 in which isa vertical tubular shaft 43 havingon the upper end a spider 44 in whichstem heads 45 are mounted to move vertically. A push rod 46 in thevertical tubularv shaft and actuated by a cam 47 on the drive shaft 48lowersand raises the stem head at the working position. In workpositions a and b the lamp stems produced in the stem making machine andconsisting of the flare tube 33, the exhaust tube 34, the arbor 10 andthe two leads 19 shown in Fig. 1 are placed in the vertically movablestem head 45 of the mashaft, bent from their original vertical positionto such an angle that in working position 03 for the preliminary heatingposition as Well as in working position 0 forthe fusing of the stem tubeand making the press they cannot be affected by the pointed flames 35,36 used for heating the lower part of the stem tube to make the press.The arbor 10 with the drop of fused glass produced on its end by thepointed flames is lowered at working position 7 to insert the anchors,the stem being lowered until the hot glass drop on its end encounters astop and forms a bead which overflows and embeds the inner ends of thethin anchor wires 9 fed @ially from supply rollers, as in U. S. patentto Schluter 1,238,575, August 28, 1917. In the same working position theloops 11 at the ends of the anchor wires 9 are produced by a known hookbending mechanism asindicated in Fig. 11.

Inthe next working position 9 the leads 19 are bent by known mechanism,such as shown" in the above identified Ledig and Loebe patentapplication, into that position inwhich they must stand in the finishedlamp. In

the same'working position the ends of the leads are pressed somewhatflat by the clamping jaws 37 indicated in Fig. 12 and operated from thedrive shaft 48 by connections not shown. In the next working position itthe fiat pressed ends of the lead are likewise bentover into hooks 18 asindicated in Fig. 13, by hook benders actuated from the drive shaft. Inthe next working position i there is a filament mounting deviceconstructed in accordance with the invention and as above described. Inthe followingvworking position is there is a loop closing device, shownin Fig. 14, which comprises aifixed abutment or anvil 38- curved tocorrespond to the curve of the mounted filament and a verticallyniovable similarly curved press block 39. When the stem with thefilament mounted on it reaches this working position and is lowered intothe hook closing device the loops 11 of the stem are'somewhat compressedby the.

downward movement of the press block 39, causing a contraction of theloop and a greater closure of the loops, because by the pres-v movedoutwardly as the loops are compressed.

In working position Z the filaments of the stems are dipped into asuspension of a getter, such as a phosphorus mixture, to decrease theblackening of the lamp. Worln'ng position m is the discharge position atwhich the finished mount is taken out.

Since the various parts of the machine may be actuated in the desiredsequence in many different ways, the driving mechanism is indicateddiagrammatically and not in detail,

but in general the drive shaft 48 moves the spider step by step thru anintermittent gear r 49, and the other mechanisms by well knownconnections. For example, the cover 14 of the filament guide is raisedand lowered, and swung into and out of registry with the block 3 by acam 50 on the drive shaft which raises and lowers, through a push rod51, the shaft 12 of the cover, which slides in a guide 52 on thepedestal 42. The shaft has a projecting pin 53 which moves ina guideslot 54 so shaped that during the first part of its upward movement therod rises without turning, thereby lifting the cover 14 straight up, andduring the; latter part of its upward movement the rod is turned on itsaxis, so as to swing the cover to one side. On the downward movement ofthe rod the cover first swings into place directly over and in registrywith the block 3, and then drops straight down.

A similar mechanism controlled by cam 55 on the drive shaft actuates thepress block 39 of the loop closing device through av push rod 56 and aguide 57 for the press blbck thrustbetween thejaws 20' by a cam on thedrive shaft 48. 0

The cover 6 of the filament gulde may to advantage be liftedautomatlcally by a push rod 60 actuated from the drive shaft 48 to raisethe cover and permit the filament to roll down the sloping bottom 4 intothe feed conduit 5, and then lower it to confine the filament in thefeed conduit so that endwise pressure on the filament will not buckleor' bend the filament, but will push it out of the feed conduit.

The valve 29 of the filament feeder maybe actuated from the drive shaft48 by a cham drive 61, or any similar mechanism WhlCll will cause thevalve to produce a number of puffs of air for moving the filament alongthe feed conduit.

The invention may be embodied 1n many other forms, and varlous forms ofmechamsm and devices may be used to perform the operations necessary formountmg a filament 1n accordance-with the invention.

What I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the UnitedStates, is:

1. In a device for mounting a coiled filament b threading it thru loopson the outer ends 0 radial anchors on a stem, the combination of a guidehaving a curved conduit for the filament and radial slots across saidconduit to permit the loops on the outer ends of the anchors to beplaced across said conduit, a filament feeder having a straight feedroove with its outlet end in registry with the inlet end of said curvedconduit, and means for sliding the filament endwise along the feedgroove and said conduit to thread it thru the anchor loops across saidconduit.

, as shown in v be thrust into the lead slots 17 to close 2. In a devicefor mounting a coiled filament b threading it thru loops on the outerends of radial anchors on a stem, the combiination of a guide having acurved conduit for the filament and radial slots across said conduit topermit the loops on the outer ends of the anchors to be placed acrosssaid conduit, a filament feeder comprising a block having a channel withan inclined bottom and a straight filament groove along the lower edgeof said bottom and a cover for said channel mounted tomove into and outof said block, and means for sliding the filament endwise along the feedgroove and saidconduit to thread it thru the anchor loops across saidconduit.

3. In a device for mounting a coiled filament by threading it thru loopson the outer ends of radial anchors on a stem, the combination of afilament guide comprising a block having a flat surface and a curvedguide groove in said surface forming a conduit, a curved cover for saidgroove mounted to move along the axis of curvature of said groove andalso transversely of said axis to uncover and cover said groove, bothsaid block and said cover having radial slots which extend across saidgroove and permit the loops on the outer. ends of the anchors to beplaced across said groove, and means for sliding the filament endwisealong said conduit to thread it thru the anchor loops across saidconduit.

4. In a device for mounting a coiled filament by threading it thru loopson the outer ends of radial anchors on a stem, the combination of afilament guide comprising a block having a fiat surface and curved guidegroove in said surface, forming a condult, a curved cover for saldgroove mounted to'move along the axis of curvature of said groove andalso transversely of said axis to uncover and cover said groove, bothsaid block and said cover having radial'slots which extend across saidgroove and permit the loops on the outer ends of the anchors to beplaced across said groove, said slots in said block'having their bottomssunk below the bottom of said guide groove sufficiently to hold ananchor loop in said slot coaxial with said guide groove, and means forsliding the filament endwise along said conduit to thread it thru theanchor loops across said conduit.

5. In a device for mounting a coiled filament by threading it thru loopson the outer ends of radial anchors on a stem, the combination of aguide having a curved conduit for the filament and radial slots acrosssaid conduit to permit theloops on the outer ends of the anchors to beplaced across said conduit, the opening in the wall of each slot intosaid conduit being flared into the shape of a funnel which faces theadvancing end of a filament passing along said guide conduit and guidesit into the portion of the conduit beyond each slot, and means forapplying air pressure to the filament to slide it endwise along saidconduit and thereby thread it thru the anchor loops across said conduit.

6. In a device for mounting a coiled filament on a stem having two leadsand radial anchors with loops on their outer ends by threading saidfilament through'said loops, the combination with a filament guidehaving a curved guide conduit with a radial I lead slot adjacent eachend of said guide conduit to receive the ends of said leads and radialanchor slots intermediate said lead slots and extending across saidguide conduit to permit said loops on the outer ends of the radialanchors to be placed across and in registry with said guide groove,means for sliding said filament endwise along said conduit to thread itthrough said anchor loops and place-its ends adjoining said leads, andclamping jaws movable into said lead slots radially of said curvedconduit to clamp-the filament ends to said leads. i

7. In a device for mounting a coiled filament by threading it thru loopson the outer ends of radial anchorson a stem, the combination of a guidehavin a curved conduit for the filament, an air c annel parallel to saidconduit, radial slots across said conduit to permit the loops on theouter ends of the anchors to be placed across said conduit, portsleading from said air channel and discharging across said slots intosaid conduit, a fllament feeder comprising a block having a straightfilament feed conduit with its outlet in register with the inlet of saidguide conduit, an air channel parallel to said feed conduit and providedwith ports leading to said feed conduit and inclined to discharge alongsaid feed conduit toward its outlet, and means for intermittentlyproducing a difference in pressure between said air channels and saidconduits to cause a flow of air from said channels thru said ports intosaid conduits to drive the filament in said conduits endwise along theconduits and thereby thread it thru the anchor loops across said guideconduit.

8. In a device of the character described, the combination of arotatable carrier having a stem holder, driving means for moving saidcarrier intermittently to place said stem holder in a series of workingpositions in succession, filament mounting means adjacent one of saidpositions for threading a filament thru loops on the ends of anchors ona stem in said stem holder, an anchor clamp at the next working positioncomprising a curved anvil for supporting the anchor loops and a curvedpress block movable toward and along the axis of said anvil to clampsaid anchors between said anvil and said press block and thereby closethe anchor loops, and means controlled by-said driving means to actuatesaid filament mounting means and said anchor clamp while said stemholder is stationary in said working positions.

9. In a device for mounting a coiled filament by threading it thru loopson the outer ends of anchors on a stem, the combination of threadingmeans comprising a filament guide for causing a coiled filamentto followa predetermined path and means for pushing a filament endwise along saidpath, stem positioning means for placing a stem with its anchor loopscoaxial with said path, and common actuating means for said stempositioning means and said filament threading means.

"10. In a device for mounting a coiled filament 1) Y threading it thruloops on the outer ends 0 anchors on a stem, the combination of a stemholder for a stem having looped anchors, a threader for moving a coiledfilament endwise along a predetermined path, and actuating means forpositioning said stem holder to place a stem with its anchor loops inregistry with said path and then actuating said threader while said stemholder is so positioned.

In witness whereof, I' have hereunto set my hand this 18th day of April,1928.

J AKOB REGENSTREIF.

